'Big George Foreman': From Rage Fighter to Revived (Two-Time!) Champion
Khris Davis plays the titular character in “Big George Foreman: The Miraculous Story of the Once and Future Heavyweight Champion of the World.” Photo courtesy Sony Pictures.
(REVIEW) Growing up — and still in my Jamaican parents’ home — we had a George Foreman grill. Hungry for a burger? Throw it on George Foreman. Craving grilled cheese? Throw it on George Foreman. George Foreman’s name was synonymous with the kitchen, and I had no idea he was a boxer until my dad told me when I was old enough to understand.
“Big George Foreman,” the biopic that hit theaters nationwide this past weekend, filled the gaps of my knowledge and proved this man truly led an extraordinary course.
The beginning of the movie takes the audience back to Foreman’s (played by Khris Davis) impoverished childhood in 1960s Houston. It’s here, within the first five minutes of the movie, that the first influence of Christianity appears.
After moving into a new home, his mother splits a single burger for her children into pieces. Foreman’s mother holds him back from eating his piece so she can bless the food. While his siblings close their eyes to pray with her, Foreman keeps his eyes open in frustration. It reveals the rage building up in him; on top of being a bigger boy and not having enough food, he’s bullied by his peers for being poor and looked down upon by his teacher for having ratty clothing and busted shoes.
Foreman regularly gets into fights throughout his youth: in school, where he’s held back; by mugging, which he’s almost arrested for; and in the Job Corps, which is in many ways his last hope.
His life changes for the better when Doc Broadus (played by Forest Whitaker) takes him under his wing and teaches him the art of boxing. As someone who enjoys boxing to release stress, I understood how boxing provided an outlet for Foreman’s rage. He grew up fighting and suffering the repercussions. Yet to partake in fighting as a sport with rules and to be celebrated for that sport did wonders for George’s self-esteem.
Over the course of the film, Foreman wins his first heavyweight championship title in 1973 — after knocking out Joe Frazier in Kingston, Jamaica — and an Olympic gold medal after only a year of training. Thanks to the payouts from his successes, Foreman is able to buy both himself and his mother a home.
At a home birthday party for his daughter, Foreman’s family sets out a bountiful feast, and his mother reminds him that they need to thank God for the food. To that, George retorts, “I bought the food, Mama.”
George’s resentment toward God continues, but a crack in his heart occurs during the birth of his nephew. His sister Mary — to whom he had always been close — is losing dangerous amounts of blood in labor. While the rest of the family prays together, Foreman storms outside to yell at God: “What did Mary ever do to you, huh? You just gonna take her baby?” He begs God to take him instead of Mary’s baby but is soon met with the news that both his sister and his nephew are doing well.
Fighting Muhammad Ali and losing in 1974, Foreman begins a downward spiral. Hit after hit to that newly accrued self-esteem eventually results in a near-death experience after a match. It’s after waking up from the blackout that Foreman experiences a transformational conversion, becoming a baptized Christian.
Foreman trades punches for the pulpit and becomes a preacher, buying a church and launching a youth center to give back to the community. He and Muhammad Ali, a Muslim, become friends — the youth center’s study hall is even named after him.
The film does a good job showing the “emotional high” of Christian conversion. For some, it lasts as long as they can extend it. For others, the Jesus high clears and reality kicks in. That happens to Foreman on-screen: He loses almost all of his money after entrusting his finances to an old school friend turned accountant. A decade after stepping out of the ring, Foreman returns to the ring in 1994 under Doc’s guidance and becomes boxing’s oldest heavyweight champion at age 45.
This time, Foreman doesn’t win because of his repressed rage; he uses his calm mind to take down his younger opponent.
“Big George Foreman” isn’t necessarily a Christian film, but it is a film about a Christian man. Some faith-based movies fall flat because of their repetition of conversion or poor cinematography, but “Big George Foreman” doesn’t fall into those traps. Sure, there are a few cheesy lines, but that tends to be a part of a new believer’s walk. Cinematically, boxing shots are close and personal, from the beaded sweat on the boxers’ bodies glistening in high definition to slow-motion spurts of blood flying out of mouths after a damaging punch.
Foreman is still alive — a young 74 — and remains the oldest heavyweight champion. His eponymous Foreman Grill machine that seemed ubiquitous in kitchens across America in the early 2000s may have faded to other kitchen fads, such as the air fryer, but the biopic film recalibrates the story of George Foreman back into a bigger perspective.
This film shows the life of a man who came from basically nothing, doing something boxing commentators and lovers of the sport had never seen before. And they haven’t seen anything quite like George Foreman since.
Brianna Jacobs is a senior at The King’s College in New York City, majoring in journalism, culture and society. She is also a spring 2023 intern with ReligionUnplugged.com. She’s previously reported and managed social accounts for The Empire State Tribune.